Burner and fuel control mechanism



Dec. 14, 1937. D. LUMSDEN BURNER AND FUEL CONTROL MECHANISM OriginalFiled Dec 21, 19:55

.Da vz'd Lwmsden Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED. STATES ear-E T- orrlcep5,644? Divided and'this applicationDecem berf22y1936pSerial' No. 117,195

6 claims; (01. 158-84).

This invention relates to an improved burner and mechanism'forcontrolling fiowpffuel 'to the same and while it is particularly adaptedfor use as a burner for a water heater it is to be understood that itmay beused wherever found practical. The present application constitutesa division of my'co-pe'nding application for a patent upon an improvedBurner and fuel control filed DecemberZl, 1935; Serial No.'55,644

One object of V the inventionis to provide a burner adaptedto burnliquid fuel, such as coal oil, the burner including "a main wick and anauiL'liary wick so associated with the main Wick that fuel may besupplied either to only the auxiliary wick or both themain wick and theauxiliary wick;

Another object of the invention is to so mount the auxiliarywickwhich'may be referred to as a pilot light that fuel fed through asingle pipe may be supplied to the'auxiliary wick and the main wick andthus make'it unnecessary to provide a supply pipe for each wick.

Another object of the'invention is to so construct and mountthe fuel supply means that fuel maybe supplied to the" auxiliary wick after oil 7in the pan carrying the'main wick and into which the auxiliarywickextends has been reduced by consumption to such an extentth'at the mainwick will become extinguished; t

Another object of the invention is to provide the burner with improvedm'ansfor controlling the length of time the main wick will burn afterflow o'f'fu'el'from a source'of supply has been shut off, the said meansbeing of such'oonstruction that adjustment may be very easily made. 7

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein thefigure shows the improved burner and the fuel supply and regulatingmechanism partially in side elevation and partially in vertical section.

In'the accompanying drawing, the numeral I!) indicates the lower portionof a water heater in which the improved burner is mounted and it will beunderstood that this heater may be of any desired construction whichwill permit water to 'be heated by hot products of combustion passingupwardly through the'same from the: burner which is* mounted in thelower portion of the heater. This burner has'an annular fuel pan IIwhich is U-shaped in cross section and open at its top. It carries theusual chimneycr hood [2 and combustion tubes, as'shown in the copendingapplication referred to above, and it also "carries a main wick l3 andan auxiliary wick Ill; The auxiliary wick is dis'posedvertically in thefuel pan between ends of the main wick and its lower portion extendsdownwardly through 7 an opening formed in the bottom of the fuel paninto a nipple l5.f It should Ice-noted; that-this auxiliary wick extendsdownwardlyintothe en-' larged lower portion mar ne; nipple so' that oilmay accumulate in the nipple about the lower portion of the auxiliarywick and 'a portiori 'of" this oil move upwardly through the wick intothe fuel pan to supply fuel to the main wick when 10' both the main wickarid-theauxiliarywick are burning. Ametal'casing l1 hasb'een'shownpro- Vvi'ded about the auxiliary wick as 'di'sclosed in the co-pendingapplication referred toabove, and it is to-be understood thatthis casinghas its 15 lower portion open, as shown at lBQf s o that oil inthenipple can easily reach-the wick. 1 The upper portion of the c'asihgisformed withside openings so that oil 'mayflow through the side openingsand into the fuel pan. In order to supplyiuel to the nipple, there hasbeen pro'vided'a pipe 19 leading" from the de pending neck 28 of a cup 2I which is mounted at oneside of the heater H). Anelb'ow 22 is threadedupon the oth'er'end ofthe fuel pipe 19 to' project 25 upwardly therefromand this elbow has threaded engagement with the lower" portion 23' of aunion ill-which projects-upwardly therefrom and has its upper'pQrtion-ZSin th'readed engagement with the nipple. The pipe 19 is providedwith anup- Wardlyextending arm or; branch 26' which pro jects upwardly into thelower end of the heater and at its upper end carries acup 21 servingasan auxiliary oil chamber, This cup or auxiliary chamber is formed withan opening 28"in its b'ottointhrough whichoil may flow and the upper endof the cup is closed by'a removable cap 29 which is preferably threadedinto place but may' be removably secured in any manner desired. "It isdesired to permit'the capacity of thecu'p to be: 40 varied accordingtothe'length of time it isdesired to have 'the main wick burnafter flowof oilhas been automatically shut 'ofi and-in order to do so 'wallsofthe cup carry inwardly extending'lugs" or blocks 30 which are preferablythree in num her and serve as supports fora disc 3| whichcon-f astitutes one of a number of discs of various thick-T nesses and has itslower face slightly below-the level of the bottom of the oil 'panwhen-in place; When a relatively thin disc'is set in place only a 5small portion of the capacity'of the cup willpbetaken up by the disc,whereas when a thicker idisc' issubstituted in place of 'a thin disca'larger por"- tion of the interior of the cup willbetaken-up by thedisc and a proportionately smaller quantity: V

end thereof.

of 011 will be required to fill the cup to the level closed by a cap orhead 32 formed with an upwardly extending neck 33 with which a pipe 34is connected. This pipe 34 extends from a suitable source of fuel supplyand the fuel flows through the neck into the cup 2| and throughperforations of the tube 35 into the passage 36 of the neck 20. Fromthis passage 36 the oil flows through the pipe I9 and from this pipeinto the auxiliary chamber or cup 21 and also through the nipple I5 andthe tubular casing of the auxiliary wick into the oilpan or trough Aperforated disc 31, which serves as a valve seat, is secured in thepassage 36 under the lower end of the tube 35 when this tube is screwedtightly into, place and through this tube extends a stem 38 having a'spherical head 39 at its lower end and which'serves as a valve and shutsoff flow of 'oil from the tube 35 into the passage 36 when seatedagainst the valve seat '31. At its upper end the stem 38 is pivoted toone end of an arm 40 which has its other end pivoted to a support 4|mounted externally of the burner in any desired manner and the lower endof a rod 42 is pivoted to the arm 40 near the pivotally mounted This rod42 constitutes part of a conventional mechanism having a thermostatassociatedtherewith which will cause the arm to move downwardly whenwater which is being heated attains a predetermined temperature and itwill thus be seen that, when, the predetermined temperature has beenreached, the arm 40 will be swung downwardly to lower the stem 38 andmove the valve to a seated position in which flow of oil through thepassage 36 Will be shut off. When this occurs, the main wick willcontinue burning until the level of the oil which is normally at theheight, indicated by the dot and dash line A-A, has been reduced to sucha level that it is below the lower end of the main wick I3 and this wickwill then be extinguished due to lack of fuel. The pilot wick will,however,

continue burning as its lower portion will still be immersed in oil and,therefore, when the temperature of the water has been reduced to apredetermined temperature at which time the rod 42 will be drawnupwardly and move the valve 39 off the seat, oil will again flow throughthe passage 36 into the pipe 2| and fill the auxiliary chamber 21 andoil pan II to the normal level in which oil will be fed to the main wickl3 and the main wick then ignited from the pilot wick. Oil in the mainchamber or cup 2| is to be maintained at the normal level, indicated bythe dot and dash line previously referred to, and in order to do so,there has been provided a float 43 which is pivoted to a depending hingeear 44 carried by" the cap 32 at one side of the bore 45 of the neck 33.The bracket 46, by means of which the float is pivotally connected tothe ear 44, has one portion bent to form a leaf 4'! and this leaf, whichis disposed in overhanging relation to the bracket and is formed ofresilient material, car-' ries an upwardly extending needle valve 48adapted'to enter and close the opening 49 formed in a disc 50 mounted inthe neck 33 and defining an upper chamber 5| from which the bore 45leads. It will'thus be seenthat, when the float is moved upwardly by oilin the main chamber or cup 2| to the position shown in the drawing, theneedle valve by entering the opening 49 will shut oil flow of oil fromthe chamber 5| and as the oil is consumed the float will be moveddownwardly until the needle valve is moved to an open position in whichit allows additional oil to flow into the main chamber. Therefore, oilin the main chamber will be maintained at the desired level and oilfedto the trough or oil pan until the Water has been heated to the desiredtemperature at which time the valve 39 will be closed. to shutoff flowof oil through the passage 36 into the pipe l9. The main wick will thencontinue to burn until oil in the auxiliary chamber and the oil pan hasbeen reduced to such a leveL that the valve 39 will be again movedupwardly: 25

to permit flow of oil through the passage 36, the;

main wick will be ignited.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

' l. A burner including a fuel pan having a fuel inlet opening at itsbottom, a fuel chamberhaving a valve controlled inlet at its top, a fuelpipe leading from the bottom of the fuel chamber forsupplying fuel tothe fuel panthrough the inlet thereof, an auxiliary fuel chamber abovethe fuel pipe having an outlet at its bottom communicating with the fuelpipe between the fuel chamber and the fuel pan, a valve for controllingflow of fuel from the fuel chamber through the fuel pipe into theauxiliary chamber and the fuel pan, float controlled means in the fuelchamber for closing the inlet valve thereof and preventing filling ofthe fuel chamber, auxiliary chamber and the fuel pan with fuel beyond apredeterminedi level, and removable means in the auxiliary; chamber forcontrolling the effective capacity of" the auxiliary chamber.

2. A burner comprising a fuel pan having a fuel inlet at its bottom, afuel chamber spaced laterally from said fuel pan and having an upperportion above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, said chamberhaving a fuel inlet, a fuel pipe leading from saidfuel chamber to thefuel inlet of said fuel pan, an auxiliary fuel chamber above the fuelpipe extending upwardly above the plane of the bottom of the fuel panand having an outlet at its-bottom communicating with the fuel pipe,float controlled means for controlling; flow of fuel into the fuelchamber, a. valve for controlling flow of fuelfromthefuel-chamberthrough the fuel pipe, and a removable body in the auxiliaryfuel chamber for displacing a pre determined quantity of fuel'above theplaneof the bottom of the fuel pan."

3. A burner comprising a fuel pan having a fuel inlet at its bottom, afuel chamber spaced laterally from said fuel pan and having an upperportion above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, said chamber,having a fuel inlet, a fuel pipe leading from said fuel chamber to thefuel inlet of said fuel pan, an auxiliary fuel chamber above the fuelpipe extending upwardly above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan,an arm connecting the fuel pipewithan outlet at the 7 trolled means forcontrolling flow of fuel into the fuel chamber, a valve for controllingflow of fuel from the fuel chamber through the fuel pipe, supportingmeans in the auxiliary fuel chamber, and a removable body deposited inthe auxiliary fuel chamber through the upper end thereof and restingupon said supporting means and adapted to displace a predeterminedquantity of fuel above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan.

4. A burner comprising a fuel pan having a fuel inlet at its bottom, afuel chamber spaced laterally from said fuel pan and having an upperportion above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, said chamberhaving a fuel inlet, a fuel pipe leading from said fuel chamber to thefuel inlet of said fuel pan, an auxiliary fuel chamber above the fuelpipe extending upwardly above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan,an arm connecting the fuel pipe with an outlet at the bottom of theauxiliary fuel chamber, float controlled means for controlling flow offuel into the fuel chamber, a valve for controlling flow of fuel fromthe fuel chamber through the fuel pipe, lugs extending from walls of theauxiliary chamber intermediate upper and lower ends thereof, and a discdeposited in the auxiliary chamber through the upper end thereof andresting upon said lugs and being adapted to displace a predeterminedquantity of fuel above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan.

5. A burner comprising a fuel pan having a fuel inlet at its bottom, afuel chamber spaced laterally from said fuel pan and having its upperend above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, said chamber having afuel inlet, a fuel pipe leading from said fuel chamber to the fuel inletof said fuel pan, an auxiliary fuel chamber above the fuel pipeextending upwardly above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, an armconnecting the fuel pipe with an outlet at the bottom of the auxiliaryfuel chamber, a removable body in the auxiliary fuel chamber fordisplacing a predetermined quantity of fuel above the plane of thebottom of the fuel pan, a perforated tube extending vertically in themain chamber from the outlet and having a valve seat at its bottom, avalve operating through said tube for controlling flow of fuel throughthe fuel pipe, and float controlled means for controlling flow of fuelinto the fuel chamber.

6. A burner comprising a fuel pan having a fuel inlet at its bottom, afuel chamber spaced laterally from said fuel pan and having its upperend above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, said chamber having afuel inlet, a fuel pipe leading from said fuel chamber to the fuel inletof said fuel pan, an auxiliary fuel chamber above the fuel pipeextending upwardly above the plane of the bottom of the fuel pan, an armconnecting the fuel pipe with an outlet at the bottom of the auxiliaryfuel chamber, a removable body in the auxiliary fuel chamber fordisplacing a predetermined quantity of fuel above the plane of thebottom of the fuel pan, a perforated'tube extending vertically in thefuel chamber from the outlet and having a valve seat at its bottom, avalve operating through said tube for controlling flow of fuel throughthe fuel pipe, a float pivotally mounted in said fuel chamber about saidtube, and a valve carried by said float to shut off flow of fuel intothe fuel chamber when the float is raised to a predetermined height.

DAVID LUMSDEN.

